Shrieking Shack
by Black Padfoot
Summary: Remus has a little secret and we all know the marauders dont go down too well with secrets.....


> Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters... J.K does....  
  
**The Shrieking Shack**  
  
"Full moon tonight. Perfect time for a prank." Said a 12-year-old Sirius Black.  
  
"Yeah" agreed another 12-year-old James Potter.  
  
The marauders had the perfect plan for a prank tonight, they were going to sneak into the Slytherin common room under James' invisibility cloak and take a photo of Severus Snape holding a pink bunny rabbit.  
  
"By the way, do any of you guys know were Remus is?" asked Peter. It suddenly struck the others that Remus was not with them and this greatly disappointed Sirius and James because it meant they would not be able to carry out their scheme.  
  
"Well its only lunch so if we see him at dinner, we'll follow him under the cloak because he's been acting very suspiciously lately as if he's got some sort of constant tummy ache or something." Said Sirius.  
  
Peter, Sirius and James entered the great hall and after a few seconds searching, found Remus sitting on his own and not looking up from his food. They went over to him and sat down.  
  
"Hello" yelled Sirius waving a hand in front of his face because he was obviously in his own world and hadn't even noticed them sitting down. Remus however jumped as though he'd been electrocuted.  
  
"W-what are you g-guys doing here." He asked shakily after he'd gotten over the shock of seeing them. "Can't we even sit by our friend now?" joked Peter. They almost saw a smile on his face but it quickly disappeared. "Sorry, but not tonight alright." He said looking as though he was choosing his words very carefully. After that he wouldn't say a thing but when he'd finished dinner, they saw Madam Pomfrey walking briskly towards them.  
  
"Come along Mr. Lupin." She said crisply. Without looking at the others, Remus slowly got up from the table and followed her. When they were out of the hall, Peter, Sirius and James also left.  
  
"Quick, put the cloak on before they disappear." They all got under the cloak and set off.  
  
A little way ahead of them, they could see Remus still walking with Madam Pomfrey. As they got closer, they saw them stop right in front of the Whomping Willow, the most vicious tree on the Hogwarts grounds. Madam Pomfrey picked up a long stick and prodded a knot on the tree trunk. Quite abruptly, the tree stopped flailing its branches and actually looked quite innocent. A tunnel opened up in the trunk and Remus and Madam Pomfrey went down into it.  
  
The others were not far behind. After they had got through the entrance to the tunnel, it closed and they could hear its branches start flailing again. After what seemed like an hour, they saw a room ahead. Before they could try to get into the room however, Madam Pomfrey came out and they had to back against the wall so she wouldn't walk straight into them. When she had left, they took off the cloak, climbed into the room and looked around. It was very dusty and the windows had been boarded up. Some broken furniture was scattered around the place.  
  
"Sirius, James, I think we're in the shrieking shack." Said Peter in barely more than a whisper. He looked positively terrified and they realized it was indeed the shrieking shack. On the outskirts of the village of Hogsmeade, there was a run down old house, which was rumored to have very violent ghost as residents.  
  
"Ghosts couldn't do that to all that furniture." Said James slowly. Suddenly, They heard a noise upstairs and without thinking to put the cloak on, went up the stairs. They entered yet another room and found Remus sitting on a chair and looking faintly green. He looked up, saw them and actually jumped out of his seat looking livid.
> 
> "WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE?" he bellowed. "YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW"
> 
> "We're not going anywhere until you tell us what you are doing here." Said Sirius stubbornly though he looked taken aback by Remus' sudden outburst. "Look there's no time to explain, you just have to go" he said trying to control himself.  
  
Suddenly he looked as though he was about to faint. He managed to get out the words, "Go, now" before he collapsed onto the floor. They had just started walking forward to help him when he made a terrible snarling noise. Hair was rapidly growing on his face, arms and whole body. His teeth lengthened. He was a werewolf.  
  
Suddenly the wolf saw them and charged forward. The had stood momentarily transfixed during his transformation but now Peter bounded straight out of the room, James looked too stunned to move, but Sirius took out his wand. He pointed it straight at the werewolf. He yelled a few harmless spells to see if it backed off but if anything, it just seemed to become more vicious. "Stupefy" yelled Sirius. It had absolutely no effect but to create a temporary shield between them.  
  
"Help me James," muttered Sirius desperately. James seemed to come out of his stupor and both he and Sirius yelled, "STUPEFY" This time it had more of an effect but they needed more people to properly stun it. "Peter, get in here, now!" yelled James. Slowly Peter emerged. Looking just as stunned as James had been, they all yelled, "STUPEFY" at the same time.  
  
This time, the werewolf was properly stunned. Sirius levitated it to the nearby four-poster bed and they all sat shakily on the ground. "I had no idea," said James faintly, "so this is where he used to disappear to every month. Wonder why he didn't tell us." "Probably thought we'd abandon him or something knowing him." Said Peter softly. Some time after midnight, Sirius' eyes brightened and a familiar look came to his eyes. "I've just had a brilliant idea," he whispered hoarsely. "Yeah, what" said James not bothering to hide the sarcasm in his voice. Ignoring him, Sirius continued, "You know how werewolves are only a danger to humans, what if he had some animal company." Peter looked just as dumbfounded as ever but James it seemed had caught on. "Do you mean to say we could be the animal company? Animagus."  
  
"Yes" they were about to talk more but a low moan suddenly issued from the bed. Remus was waking up. "Lets keep it a surprise for him." Said Sirius. Remus sat up and looked around. He saw them and turned a bright shade of red, obviously embarrassed. "You shouldn't have come you know, but thanks." He muttered. "Not a problem," said James, "but how come you never told us?" "I was afraid you'd desert me and if you want to then do it now." "Don't be daft," said Sirius, "we'd never desert you just because of what you are." "Oh, by the way," said Peter, "you might want these." He said holding up some robes. Remus suddenly turned a brighter shade of red and started putting on the robes a fast as he could while the others turned away. When he was ready, they all walked back down the tunnel together. James still had his invisibility cloak and Peter, Sirius and him put it on when they saw Madam Pomfrey walk out of the castle.  
  
"Ah, you're awake, Mr. Lupin. Good although you must spend some time sleeping in your dormitory or it won't be long till I see you again. Good bye." And with that, she walked back to the castle. Remus finally woke up around dinnertime and went down to the great hall himself. There he found the other three marauders poring over a thick black book labeled Basic Animagus Transformations. Though very curious to know what it was, he knew better then to ask and when he sat down with them and they put the book away before he could even say hello, he was positive they were hiding something from him. He gave them a very suspicious sounding good morning, ate breakfast then left for his first class.


End file.
